Skills & Techniques Key Concept 1 Concepts of Skills &Technique and Skilled Performance Skill A...

Skills & TechniquesKey Concept 1Concepts of Skills &Technique and Skilled Performance

SkillA skill is a whole movement, which if performed competently will help to make a performer effective in the activity in which that skill is required.

TechniqueTechnique is the way in which a skill is performed. A skill can be performed using more than one technique. When developing a skill a performer will usually attempt to improve aspects of their technique.


What makes a skilled performance.

The most important objective of a skilled performance is to carry out linked movements with maximum efficiency.

A skilled performance will show these three characteristics: Sequences of movements carried out in a fluent,

controlled way often with a minimum of effort. Correct options selected. Skills & techniques used which reflect the performers

ability and experience.


Skill is relative to ability. Your ability to play in defence at hockey determines the type of technique you can use efficiently and the type of options you can use successfully during game play. Your technique and options will probably be less extensive than those of an international hockey player, but more extensive than those of someone just beginning to learn the activity.


Processing information when learning skills

As your performance develops you are learning how to process relevant information effectively. The information processing model is one method you can use to consider how learning takes place. The model contains four parts that are linked together in a ‘learning loop’.

Decision-making

Output

Feedback

Input


The first part of the loop is input information. This is the information you receive from your senses, eg, sight and sound

You then have to make decisions based on the input information you have received. Sifting more important information from less important information is the second part of the loop, decision-making.

The third part of the loop is output. This is the way in which you decide to move and respond to the decisions you have made.

During and after your chosen response you will receive information about your performance. This feedback is the final part of he loop.


Classification of Skills

Skills are either predominately open or closed.

Classifying a skill as closed or open is particularly helpful in determining which types of practice are most likely to improve a specific skill.Externally paced skills are often referred to as open skills. As well as not being in control of the timing involved, other factors, outwith the control of the performer, affect the execution of the skill, eg rugby tackle.


Classification of Skills (continued)

With closed skills, the performer is in control of all the factors, which can effect the execution of the skill, eg serve in badminton.

Some skills are somewhere in between open and closed. Look at the spectrum below.

ClosedOpen

Badminton Serve Hockey Penalty Basketball Lay Up Rugby Tackle



Closed Skills Open Skills

Same Judgements Differing JudgementsPerformer Controls Pacing No Control of PacingStable Environment Changing EnvironmentSame Movement Patterns Movement Patterns Adapted

There are several ways of classifying skills so they can be analysed and their differing characteristics taken account of.



Skills are also predominantly simple or complex.

Skills exist on a continuum between simple and complex: those which require little decision-making and only basic movement patterns are simple: those which require more thought and decision-making are complex.A number of factors determine whether a skill is predominantly simple or complex. These include: the amount of information to be processed; the number of decisions to be made; the speed at which information processing and decision-making requires to occur; the accuracy involved and the amount and type of feedback which is available.


Classification of Skills (continued)Continuous/Discrete and Serial Skills

Continuous skills are skills which repeat the same movement over and over again eg running and swimmingDiscrete skills, on the other hand, have a clear beginning and end eg high service in badmintonSerial skills are made up of several discrete parts eg high jump


Classification of Skills (continued)Pacing Continuum

Pacing is about how much control the performer has over the timing of he action. Actions are described as self-paced or externally paced (or somewhere in between) according to the extent to which the performer can decide when to start the action.Any serve in badminton is a self-paced skill while most other shots are externally paced as the performer is reacting to problems set by an opponents movement.When developing an externally paced skill it is often useful to make it as internally paced as possible while practising. The practiser can then focus on repeating the same movement over and over again.



When in the early stages of learning, we often try to make open skills as closed as we can make them so that repetition can take place. For example, to practice over-head clear in the cognitive stage, a feeder tries to make the shuttle arrive the same way and to the same place everytime. The practiser stays in that area of the court all the time and limited court movement is only gradually built in.

A skilled player will try to make open skills as closed as he/she can make them. Using fast court movement when preparing to play a clear, you will be able to play your clears with few adaptations most times. Slow clumsy court movement will mean you are unbalanced and more adaptations to the way you execute the skill will be required.

Skills & TechniquesKey Concept 2Technique Improvement Through Mechanical Analysis or Movement Analysis or Consideration of Quality

To plan technique improvements you can use three different types of analysis: mechanical analysis, movement analysis and consideration of quality. The type of activity you are involved determines which type is best.

Mechanical Analysis In throwing events in athletics, where the effectiveness of a technique

can be affected by small details, a mechanical analysis may be most useful. The analysis in this example would focus on:

Force – the greater the force generated by turning, the greater the possibility of a long throw.

Use of body levers – the throwing arm uses a long lever. The turning force generated needs to be transferred to the throwing arm

Planes of movement – the body can be divided into three different planes: sagittal, frontal and transverse. In the discus throw, the athlete turns around his tranverse plane to generate force.

Your specific technique requirements in certain activities may mean that a mechanical analysis would be more useful.

Skills & TechniquesKey Concept 2Technique Improvement Through Mechanical Analysis or Movement Analysis or Consideration of Quality Movement Analysis

In other activities a movement analysis may provide the specific technique information you require.

This method measures the effectiveness of a performer’s preparation, action and recovery stages of performing the skill.

Skills & TechniquesKey Concept 2Technique Improvement Through Mechanical Analysis or Movement Analysis or Consideration of Quality Consideration of Quality

In other activities consideration of quality may be the most effective way of analysing technique. The different performance qualities highlighted in Performance Appreciation – technical, physical, personal and special are often used. The considerations selected can be ones which are particularly important to certain activities.

In football, top strikers usually have qualities that enhance their performance; they often appear to have more time than other players; they can deceive their opponents about their intentions; they can adapt their technique to increase their effectiveness. For example, a top striker can often use little back lift in his shot preparation if necessary. When in possession he can often keep the ball moving just prior to shooting without the need to have the ball ‘set’. In this example the qualities of time, deception and adaptation would be useful qualities to analyse.

Skills & TechniquesKey Concept 2Technique Improvement Through Mechanical Analysis or Movement Analysis or Consideration of Quality Using Two or Three Types Together

It is also possible to study a players technique using more than one of the three different types of analysis.

For example, your analysis of a football tackle could focus on all the different types of analysis outlined.

Your mechanical analysis could focus in centre of gravity, force and action/reaction.

Your movement analysis could focus on Preparation/Action/Recovery

Your consideration of quality could focus on physical (strength), personal (determination), and special (being able to adapt and switch to tackle opponents in most dangerous positions).

Skills & TechniquesKey Concept 2Technique Improvement Through Mechanical Analysis or Movement Analysis or Consideration of Quality Collecting data in this way will provide you with valuable

information. Even within specified approaches, such as movement analysis, you may consider that a different type of information is necessary to help improve your performance. In addition to Preparation/Action/Recovery information, your data collection in tackling may include very specific areas within tackling, for example, how to deny your opponent space just prior to tackling.

Skills & TechniquesKey Concept 3Ways of Learning and Developing Technique

Stages of Learning

When you have worked out the demands of the skills involved in an activity and checked your level of practical experience in the activity, you are in a good position to learn and develop these skills.

There are three important stages in learning and developing skills:

The Planning (Cognitive) Stage The Practice (Associative) Stage The Automatic (Autonomous) Stage


The Planning Stage

During the planning stage, find out what the skill involves by: Reading coaching manuals Listening to teachers explanations Looking at pictures Looking at video film Watching demonstrations by skilled players

Establish what the parts of the skill are and make your first attempts at learning each part. These parts of the skill are often referred to as subroutines. Even though the techniques used within the skill are new, it may not mean that you are at the beginner level. At this stage in learning, errors are likely to be common and so you will need advice, encouragement, and support to prevent unnecessary accidents.


The Practice Stage

During the planning stage you link together all the required subroutines of the skill. Your ability, experience and the types of skill involved will determine the amount of practice time required. Simple skills will require less consolidation through practice than complex skills. Gradually, appropriate practice will reduce the number of mistakes made during performance.

The type of practice method you would use for the development of simple closed skills is likely to be different from those you would use for open complex skills.


The Automatic Stage

At the automatic stage, most key subroutines have become automatic in the performance. As a result, little attention is paid to them. Also errors are less likely. Due to the higher skill level you will be able to devote more attention to more detailed aspects of your performance.

At the automatic stage in a game: You required less cognitive control Your body movements became automatic You were executing the skill in a game without thinking about the

body movements involved You simply selected the skill required and played it Your speed and efficiency was increased You were able to focus more on placing the shot


The Automatic Stage

When at the automatic stage you need to go back to the practice stage and even the planning stage:

To check that your technique is correct

Correct any minor faults

To develop a more advanced technique


Principles of Effective Practice

For your practice to be effective clear objectives should be set. This will involve consideration of your present strengths and weaknesses and what aspects of your performance you are trying to improve. You may want to measure your current performance against a model performer. Two further important considerations are the work/rest ratio and progression within your chosen practices.



Work/Rest Ratio In all forms of training you need to calculate the ration of

work relative to rest. Working out this ratio is one of the key issues in making skill training specific to your needs

The ration varies according to : Your previous experience in the activity Your level of practical ability The complexity of the skill involved The physical demands involved in the practice.

Consider the training intervals of work/rest when planning your practices.



Progression

Ensure that your practices are meaningful to your current performance level and progress when you are ready to do more demanding practices. Make sure you are working at a suitably demanding level at all times. Apply the principle of progression to all your practices. High quality practice for a short time is better than repetitive, low quality practice over a long time.


Practice Methods

Shadowing This is a type of whole/part/whole learning. Movement

patterns are practised separately eg. Practising foot movements and then dummy shots in badminton. The movement patterns are learned without the distraction of the shuttle or the game. It is easy to engage in internal feedback when shadowing. Shadowing is in the cognitive (preparation) phase of learning.


Feeder Practices

This is where a feeder is used to repeatedly send the shuttle accurately into specific areas of the court so that the same shot can be practiced over and over again. Feeder practices are between the cognitive and the associative phase of learning (practice) phase of learning.


Drills

In order to ensure that repetition takes place drills can be set up eg. A lay-up drill in basketball. Drills move the practice into the associative phase of learning.


Pressure Training This uses various types of demands to shape practices. These demands

(pressures) ensure that practices are specific and allow performance progression. For example:

Increasing the degree of opposition from opponents Practicing skills under a time restriction Having to score a certain amount in a limited time

Pressure training makes the practice of open skills which are performed in unpredictable competitive situations realistic.

One advantage of this pressure training is that training intervals can be included. You may be required to complete the movement drill using a training interval that takes into account existing skill and fitness levels: for example, completing repetitions within ten seconds with a ten second recovery. A three-set sequence could be completed in one minute.

A further advantage is that progression can be built into this practice. If the practice outlined is used as a starting practice, others can be added to it to make it increasingly demanding.


Conditioned Games

Normal rules can be changed so that a skill which needs to be practiced happens more often, eg . In basketball – to encourage the development of the lay-up shots, ban the use of any other shots in practice games or award four points for a lay-up. Conditioned games move the practice from the associative to the autonomous phases of learning.


Gradual Build UP

This method is useful for learning skills that are complex. It is also a useful method if the skill involves the element of risk. By using gradual build up, you can make the practice more demanding in small instalments. This way of practicing also allows you to develop high levels of confidence.

It is essential when using gradual build up that all practices are geared to the correct stage in your learning. Practices should be challenging yet achievable. They should be geared to your level of performance in order to be meaningful and realistic. In using gradual build up you start in the cognitive phase, move through the associative phase and try to reach the autonomous phase of learning.


Whole/Part/Whole

This method is commonly used by performers who already have some experience of the activity. It works best when you can perform a version of the whole skill already. From an analysis of the performance, any technical weaknesses can be isolated and practiced as parts. Once performance weaknesses have been improved, the whole skill can be performed again.

Learning the demands of the skill will determine whether whole/part/whole is a feasible practice method. Skills which allow parts of the performance to be separated easily from the whole performance work best, while whole/part/whole works less well for continuous actions.

In whole/part/whole you move from the associative phase to the cognitive phase and then back to the associative phase of learning.


Opposed/Unopposed

With this method, to begin with practice is done with no opposition. This allows the practice to learn the movement patterns unopposed. Passive opposition is then introduced which gradually becomes more active

Small Sided Games

The number of players in team games can be reduced. This means that each player gets more of the ball and consequently more opportunities to use a skill being developed.


Problem Solving

When you are involved in learning and developing open skills, different options are available. You need to select options that are best for you and your team-mates.

Practices which build in decision-making are likely to be most beneficial for you and your team. In a small game of hockey (eg a 3v3 practice with the emphasis on retaining possession) it is necessary to decide when to pass, who to pass to, the weight of the pass and the timing of the pass. Making these decisions will help you to understand the demands of the skills.

In problem solving you focus on achieving specific objectives. In the hockey example, you could use the understanding gained from the practice and apply it effectively during actual games.

Problem solving can also be used in closed skills. For example, in a floor sequence in gymnastics you could work out which combinations of movements links best. This would result in a sequence of movements that involves changes of emphasis, different degrees of technical difficulty and inventive linking of different movements.


Factors Affecting Skill Acquisition

Duration People learn better in the first half hour. After this fatigue

and boredom can become factors. It is better, therefore, to have a lot of short practice sessions rather than a few long ones. It is also better during a long session to practice for a short time and to play games for a short time alternately

Fatigue When you get tired, the quality of your practice

deteriorates, rather than carry on it is better to take a rest. Better still, organise the session so that you take turns as practicer, observer and feeder. The points made above relating to duration are relevant when considering fatigue.


Regularity

If there is too long between practice sessions, little of what has been learned will be carried over to the next practice. Practicing every day is ideal but this is not always possible. Two or three times a week is enough for good progress to be made.

Motivation

Is your level of desire to succeed. You need to be motivated in order to improve your level of performance. Motivation is an important factor in learning practical skills. The secret of success is to optimise your motivation for the performance you are working on. Your motivation varies according to a number of different factors. The most common distinction is whether your motivation is internal (intrinsic) or external (extrinsic).


Motivation (continued)

Internal motivation is your own level of desire to succeed. If you are interested and purposeful in your work, you are far more likely to make progress. Having internal motivation is in addition to all the fitness, skill and competition demands that are required for success.

Your level of internal motivation will already have helped decide your choice of activities. There may be activities that you have sampled but chosen not to pursue. This may have arisen because your interest in them was not high enough, rather than for other reasons, such as the high costs involved or because none of your close friends enjoyed this activity.



External motivation occurs when your involvement in an activity is for reasons apart from simply participation. For example, earning money through competition is an external motivation. The crucial factor to understand is that your level of motivation for different activities may be very different from that of other colleagues. Individuals different motivations is one of the reasons there are so many sports available to participate in. You may prefer activities with closed skills that are not directly competitive eg gymnastics. Alternately, you may enjoy open, competitive games with all the demands of performing under pressure.

Everyone has an optimum level of motivation. You have probably been in situations where you fear of failure or desire to do well has adversely affected performance. Top performers become proficient at (and can develop their ability in) motivating themselves to the optimum level required for a special performance.



Use goal setting to ensure that you can perform at your highest level. Goal-setting involves you individually (or with your teacher/coach) setting challenging targets which are specific to your performance.

Developing a planned approach such as this is likely to ensure that your confidence is high.

You will perform better if you are able to use the knowledge and confidence gained from previous successes and incorporate them into the next session or competition. Remember, also, that feedback and motivation are linked. You are likely to be motivated to do well in an activity if you receive positive feedback about your performance, when learning and developing your skills. Positive feedback is also important when goal-setting.



Your teacher may study your performance and give you feedback on it, alternatively, you may have your performance videoed. You could then link this analysis to your own kinaesthetic awareness (sense of your body’s movement) of how your movement felt when you completed it. This would reward you with positive feedback about your performance and assist in sustaining and optimising your level of motiavtion


Concentration and Focus

You must focus your attention on what is to be learned. You should avoid trying to focus on any more than one or two aspects of technique at the same time. When an observer is being used they must focus on the aspect of technique being worked on.

Concentration and focus are also very important when performing in general, it is vital to get your mind set on a game in relation to your game plan, your opponent’s weaknesses etc.

Your level of concentration must be compatible with the demands of the task. In most activities you cannot pay full attention all the time. So, you heighten your level of concentration at special times so that you are alert, and pay less attention at other times. This is especially the case with the activities that have a pronounced start/stop pattern of play.


Co-operation

You will need help when developing skills. The people who are helping you will have to take your efforts to improve seriously. Also a person who is asked to observe and then give feedback must focus on the aspect of technique being developed and give the practicer a meaningful report.


Feedback

Is the information you collect about your performance. There are different types of feedback. The types you use depend on the type of task your are completing, the type of skill being performed and the nature of the activity.

Using feedback in a meaningful way is essential for performance improvement. It helps you to plan improvements to your performance and provides reinforcement about the successful parts of your performance, encouraging you to work towards further improvement.

You can classify feedback as either internal (intrinsic) or external (extrinsic).


Feedback (continued)

Internal feedback – this is where an observer watches your movements and gives advice. Often you think your movements are correct when that are not. Good feedback always starts with positive comments to encourage. It should then go on to suggest specific improvements. With good quality feedback the potential for improvement is greatly increased. Practicers gain confidence when told they are doing things correctly. They can be told if faults are present and if progress is being made. An observer can be an important source of encouragement.

External feedback can be received from: Knowledge of results, observation schedules, factors

affecting results, video of performance and information from teachers/coaches.

For external feedback to be effective, it needs to be precise and accurate and be given as soon as possible after the activity or part of the game.

Skills & TechniquesExtra NotesModels of Performance

Model Performers at Different Performance Levels

As you work to improve your performance, model performers can show you how to improve. The idea is that, by seeing someone else playing badminton well, you will get a clearer picture of what it is you are striving to do.

It may be that a student in your class is able to play in a way that provides you with ideas about how you can get better. Very able badminton players may need to watch top performers to get an idea of how to play better.


Model Performers and the Performance of Difficult Skills & Techniques.

In badminton, some skills and technique are difficult to carry out effectively, for example, a back hand clear. If you watch a good performer playing the shot, possibly from a slow motion video, then you can pick up clues about how to play the shot at different stages in the preparation, action and recovery of the shot


Model Performers to Motivate you to Improve

Watching able performers can make performance look exciting and keep you interested in trying to improve. When watching better badminton players you can see a wide range of skills in action. It can make you motivated to work towards performing at their level.

Skills & TechniquesExtra NotesStages of Skill Learning

Preparation Stage Get a mental picture of the skill or technique Understand the basics of what is to be learned Shadow the movement Break the skill down Slow the skill down, if possible

Practice Stage Repeated practice, so that you become more consistent in

performing the skill or technique successfully Detect and correct errors in your execution of skills/technique. Practice in a controlled environment The assistance of an accurate ‘feeder’

Skills & TechniquesExtra NotesStages of Skill Learning

Practice Stage (continued) Pressure gradually increased as you improve. The opportunity to play conditioned games Compare your performance with a ‘model’

Automatic Stage Put the skill/technique you have learned into a full game

situation Concentrate on your game strategy – you can perform the

skills of the game without thinking about them.

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